General Atomics Invests $12 Million On Expansion in Shannon, Mississippi

Area Development News Desk

05/31/2012

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General Atomics' Electromagnetic Systems Group invested $12 million on a 140,000-square-foot expansion to its existing 127,000-square-foot facility in Shannon, Mississippi.

The building expansion will provide the company with additional warehouse storage, space for large-scale machining capabilities, test rooms and manufacturing areas for printed circuit board assembly and cable manufacturing. From its Lee County location, General Atomics manufactures, assembles and tests Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch Systems used to launch planes from next-generation aircraft carriers. General Atomics, which currently employs 65 workers at its Shannon facility, initially plans to hire at least 25 additional employees.

"General Atomics is a high-tech company which continues to grow in our state, creating jobs for Mississippians, and I appreciate the company's ongoing commitment to Mississippi and our workforce," Governor Phil Bryant said. "The work General Atomics is doing in Lee County is contributing to both our state's economy and our nation's defense."

"We have continued to receive great community support and help for training our employees. The latest expansion is enabling General Atomics Group to prepare for future Navy depot-related maintenance work and will allow us to manufacture large-scale motors and generators and to perform high-precision machining from cable lugs to Electromagnetic Railgun rails," stated Scott Forney, GA EMS Group vice president.

"The Mississippi Development Authority not only works to recruit advanced technology businesses to Mississippi, but also to help these businesses thrive and grow in the state," said Jim Barksdale, interim executive director of the Mississippi Development Authority.

"We were pleased to support General Atomics with this most recent expansion project and are grateful to the company for its continued investment in Mississippi."

While details of incentives offered the firm were not immediately available, The Mississippi Development Authority said it worked closely with the Community Development Foundation to support the project and provided the company with assistance through the Momentum Mississippi incentives program to help facilitate the building improvements.